Question

Topic: Website Critique

Conversion - Where Do I Go From Here?

Posted by Anonymous on 4/30/2007 at 6:28 PM ET 500 Points
Hello,

I need a little help. I am trying to improve conversions on my site https://www.prooz.com . I have put various things in place such as big bold buttons on product pages. Images to enable the buyer to identify sale items quickly. I am currently doing multivariate testing to see what works and what doesn't however it is taking a very long time. I would like to know what other things my site is missing which may hurt conversions or things that have a definate effect on conversions turning visitors to sales. Is there a conversion rate I should be expecting for my industry. Am I using the right copy on product pages? Is there something I could be doing better?

Any help is greatly appreciated with 500 points being awarded to the most comprehensive answers.

Many thanks.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by NatashaChernavska on 5/1/2007 at 12:54 AM Accepted
    Hello, brereton_paul,

    The first thing that's coming to my mind when I look at your project is that you DID some good job. The whole picture is not bad, not too much crowded, colors are good for the start, and what's most important - your merchandise is listed properly, it's clear, pretty easy to see the items and the price.

    My suggestions would be:

    1. You need to add proper keywords and description to your page as well as very seriously approach the Title composition. As you know, SEO is one of the most important thins in good marketing of your project.

    The whole idea of having a website is to advertise in the Internet. You wouldn't create a street banner and put it in somewhere in your backyard, would you? No, you will put it in the most visible place. The same thing with your website. Until you take care of as much Internet resources (and the search engines in the first place!) as you can to know about you, your website is dead. So, help search engines actually find you! Add keywords and description to every page and create a proper title. Title should contain your most important keywords, about 70 characters length, don't use more. Your description is 250 characters and has to explain shortly but precisely your business idea. And the keywords tag is 1025 characters. Use phrases as well as separate words.

    2. The layout is to be seriously improved by a professional designer. I may point at just some of the mistakes I can see without close inspection.

    First of all although the colors are not horrible, the combination of this kind of pinks, blue, and gray look a little bit depressing. There is a white stripe above the line of your bookmarks, and it doesn't look logical. Your site name is way too big and eats about 1/5 of my screen. You could place there some merchandise! I agree with KSA, Google advertising doesn't really make you any good regarding the look.
    You have used pretty large menu items, and your main screen doesn't fit some of the screen resolutions. In other words, it's too wide.

    Blue stripe on the bottom doesn't belong there. The text about your bags (on the first page) is way too large, I would give a short paragraph and a link to a separate page so users could go there and read it if they are interested.

    "Buy now" and "more info" buttons are too big.

    All the elements of the design make an impression of clumsiness. I believe it's the least you want for your great store. And the sad thing is that your bags get lost behind all those clumsiness!

    I would make additional and bigger images to open in a new window with an ability to zoom them even more. That's what most of the great stores do.

    For this kind of prices I would expect elegant, subtle, advanced design, otherwise I would think that those bags aren't worth it. Although I believe they are! So, with just little changes you will make the project look really professional and elegant.

    What I would really suggest you to do is to visit websites like www.spiegel.com, www.hsn.com and get an idea of good store layouts. I really believe that you can do great! And I wish you

    Good Luck!

    Natasha Chernyavskaya.
  • Posted on 5/1/2007 at 12:48 PM Author
    Wow!, some great suggestions so far. The list changes so far as I can best make out are:

    1 Need something attention grabbing at the top of the home page.
    2 Remove the Google Ads.
    3 Remove text links below logo.
    4 Put a tagline underneath the prooz logo for example "top Quality Handbags, Accessories and Gifts" big enough to grab attention immediately.
    5 Come up with a punch line tag that could be used also.
    6 If products appear above the fold after the previous changes then fine, otherwise include a featured product up where people can see it.
    7 Change "Choose Category" to "Search Options"
    8 Split Gifts down to Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Baby Gifts etc,.. Do the same for Accessories. Then on each of those pages, list the catogories in each of those pages. Maybe an image above which states "SEARCH FOR:".
    9 The small category links at the top of each category page are not obvious enough.
    10 On the contact page, you need to include the address and Phone number, with a link to the How To Find us page.
    11 Could the menu at the top have drop-downs for the sub-categories.?
    12 Keywords and Descriptions on each page need work.
    13 Pink, Blue and Grey look depressing.
    14 White strip above bookmarks doesn’t look natural.
    15 Site name is too big. Needs to be reduced.
    16 You could place merchandise up at the top.
    17 Menu items at top are too large. (In other words, too wide)
    18 Blue strip on bottom should be changed / removed.
    19 Text about bags on first page is way too large. Use a short paragraph and link to a separate page so users could read this if interested.
    20 Buy Now and More Info buttons are too large.
    21 Bigger images should open in a new window with an ability to zoom even more.

    I'm working my way through the list as we speak. So far I've done points : 2,3,7,10,15,18

    I will leave this up 1 more day just in case there are any other comments and then allocate the points. Great stuff, many thanks so far.
  • Posted on 5/1/2007 at 2:30 PM Accepted
    The comments above offer great advice.

    My thoughts are moving some of your most interesting products and those most relative to the current season to the first page. Change sizes of graphics, text to sell, etc.

    Check out Lillian Vernon's web site. Lillian Vernon has been selling, and selling, and selling for a long time. Might pick up some great ideas on how to promote your products.

    MarketingRiot
  • Posted by NatashaChernavska on 5/1/2007 at 2:55 PM Accepted
    Just a quick view how I see your project:

    https://www.artographica.com/images/layout_prooz.jpg
  • Posted by easyE on 5/2/2007 at 10:19 AM Accepted
    Like myself - Potential US buyers would like to see your product in US Dollars along with each item or you will loose them.
  • Posted on 5/4/2007 at 1:08 PM Author
    Hi Everyone,

    I just want to thank you all for your suggestions which have been a mine of information. I will now award the points. It will take me some time to implements all the suggestions (months), but I'll get there eventually. You can check out of my site is coming along, and I hope you like the changes so far.

    Best Regards,

    Paul.
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